iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.
Technology:Software How-To
Hi and welcome to this Vision Store product highlight demo.
In this particular demo, I want to talk about a range of different sized canes that come under the same product name. And what I'm talking about is the KWF telescopic button style canes. So these are telescopic canes that you slide back into a very, very small size. And then of course, telescope out into a full size cane.
Vision Store has a range of these KWF telescopic button style canes. And they go from 114cm, which is about 44 inches roughly, up to 138cm, which is about 54 inches.
As you may or may not know with telescopic canes, they're not really designed to be an all day cane. I see them as an occasional cane. So let's say you've gone to a concert or a restaurant and you just want to pop out and go somewhere, then you could quite easily pull your telescopic cane out of your bag and extend it. And off you go. When you come back, you fold it up nice and tiny or collapse it nice and tiny inside itself. And off you go again.
Let me give you the main features of the KFW telescopic cane button style. And the reason why it's called a button style, just get that out of the way first, is that it's got a button on the handle of the cane that when you push it in, allows you to pull out all the sections out into a rigid cane. And then of course, to collapse it or retract it back inside itself, you push that button in, you put your hand on the bottom of the cane and push all the sections back into the handle. So that's the way it effectively works.
let me just give you the main features of the cane.
It has nine sections and of course, the ninth section is the handel.
Each section where it connects to each other has a reinforced band of aluminium going around that. And of course, that's to reinforce it when it's fully extended in its rigid form.
The other thing that you will notice on the cane is that when you extend it, you have little buttons that pop out into holes. That's what holds the cane into the rigid setting when it's fully extended. And then when you press that button, it then allows the top section and the previous section going on and on and on to collapse back into itself.
What I like about the feel of this cane is while the handle is round, each of the sections as it extends out is an eight-sided shape. And then when you get to the bottom section, that's almost an eight-sided shape. But because it's so thin, it feels like a four-sided shape. And then of course, you've got the tip. The handle is quite spongy and it's actually round. So it doesn't feel like a golf handle that you have on some canes. This is actually quite a rounded handle. on the top of the handle, you do have a wrist strap to put it around your wrist.
The tip on the bottom of the cane is 1.5 centimetres. So it is quite tiny and it does have a metal tip on it.
Then finally, with the main features, you have this really cute little carrying case that you can pop it in. Because my shoulder bag has got lots of different littletalk about compartments in it, I tend to not use a little bag. I just put it in some of my little compartment on my shoulder bag.
Let’s go through some of the benefits of the cane since we've just done the features.
It is lightweight and considering what it's actually doing, it's actually quite strong.
Cane extends and retracts with ease, which is absolutely true.
Cane automatically locks at each section for strength.And those were the little buttons I was talking about that popped out when you extended the cane. And of course, get pushed in when you're retracting the cane Joint design provides superior tactile transmission.
finally, as I've already mentioned, it comes with a carrying case for easier storage.
Let's go to the technical specifications.
The cane weight is 213 grams.
Cane construction is dual aluminium with copper alloy. So again, quite strong.
Cane handle is a EVA sponge handle.
Nnumber of sections is nine.
There is a serious warning for the manufacturer, and that's about not opening the cane rapidly or forcefully. If you just grab a hold of the handle and yank it open, what will happen is that you can actually damage the cane. So remember those little buttons that I said that connect each section? Well, if you pull it too hard, those buttons can collapse back inside the cane and the cane falls apart. Maybe not all of it, but when I accidentally did it on my one, the bottom section actually popped out and I had to get some help to get it back in again. So it still works, but I've now got to be a little bit more careful.
By the way, when it closes, what you actually get from a tactile point of view is you get the lovely sponge handle, of course, with the strap on the end of it. And then you get this lovely diminishing rows of those extra joints that are around each section. And it just feels nice and compact. That's why I was saying that the cane itself feels really cool when it's fully extended and it feels ultra cool when it's all collapsed.
If you want to find more information about the cane, please look on our website, which is shop.visionaustralia.org. If you'd like to talk to someone, you can ring up the main Vision Australia number, which is 1300 847 466, and ask to speak to someone at the Vision Store. Or indeed, you can email the Vision Store, which is pretty straightforward. And that's visionstore@visionaustralia.org.
As I say in all my product demos, thanks for listening, and bye for now.
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